I can understand now why everyone dreams of coming to Tuscany! The rolling hills covered in vineyards and olive orchards were pleasant to the eye! Silvery olive tree leaves twinkled in the sunlight and the perfect rows of bright green grape vines gave the brown hills a patchwork look. The Tuscan countryside is a variation of earthy tans, browns, and pops of brilliant green!

Our first stop was at a little wine shop on the roadside. It even had a giant cork with the Chianti Classico dal 1716 logo and a giant black rooster on the side.  Chianti vineyards and other Tuscan grape vineyards were made officially a region in 1716 by the Dukes of Tuscany

The first town along the Chiantigiana or Chianti Way, was Greve. Here we walked around and partook in a wine tasting at the local vineyard. Sr. Marco described 6 different wins, 3 Chianti and 3 other Tuscan wines. Robert, Liam, and I sampled each and even Seamus and Faywen tried a sip of each wine. We all liked the white wine, followed by a rose. Marco told us about a lovely little village that was off the beaten path called Montefioralle.

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Perched on a hilltop the little circular walled village was a time capsule, of cobble-stoned streets, stone houses, quaint alleyways with balconies ,and green plants in pots. We ate lunch at a ristorante sitting on a patio overlooking the valley of orchards and vineyards. We could hear and see the farmers at work. Faywen and I enjoyed watching a lady hang her clothes out to dry on a pulley line just outside the third story window above our heads.  We ate and then meandered to the center of town,  which happened to be the highest point. This was where the local church was situated. The kids even caught a glimpse of the local priest ringing the bell for 2:00 in the afternoon! For a few minutes we all enjoyed sitting in unique terra cotta chairs that were comfortably cool on a warm day!

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From Montefiorelle we drove further down the Chiantigiana to the Luiano Vineyards. The owner of the vineyard served us and we had 3 different Chianti blends including one from the vineyard we were sitting next too!

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Around 4:30 we returned back to the Castello and the kids swam in the pool for over an hour. We had reservations at our favorite Tuscan Ristorante Caminetto del Chianti. Once again we sat on the patio at the same table from a few days before. We had amazing views of the rolling valley below. It was a nice way to end or time in Tuscany!

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